Paper feed control system

ABSTRACT

A paper feed control system in which a braking means holds a paper sheet or the like at the instant that follower rollers are spaced apart from a feed drive roller. The paper sheet or the like may be stopped at a predetermined position regardless of feed speed.

iiited States Patent ohayashi et al.

[4-51 Jan. 18, 1972 [54] PAPER FEED CONTROL SYSTEM [72] Inventors: Yugoro Kobayashi; Tsutomu Yamakami,

both of Tokyo, Japan [73] Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Ricoh, Tokyo, Japan [22] Filed: Dec. 16, 1969 [21] Appl. No; 885,455

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 25, 1968 Japan ..43/94553 {521 US. Cl ..27l/53 [51] Int. Cl ..B65h 9/05 [58] Field of Search ..27 N53, 50, 60

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,708,405 5/1955 Gegenheimer .2? H53 X 3,339,917 9/1967 Petrovsky ..271/53 X Primary Examiner-Joseph Wegbreit AttorneyBurgess, Ryan and Hicks [57] ABSTRACT A paper feed control system in which a braking means holds a paper sheet or the like at the instant that follower rollers are spaced apart from a feed drive roller. The paper sheet or the like may be stopped at a predetermined position regardless of feed speed.

5 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures WWW JAN 1 8 m2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY PAPER-FEED CONTROL SYSTEM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a paper feed control system and more particularly to a paper feed control system for use with automatic copying machines or printing presses.

In the conventional paper feed control device, a sheet of paper is generally entered betweena pair of feed rollers consisting of drive roller and follower rollers and is advanced by them. When it is desired to stop feeding, the drive roller is generally stopped. In this case, because of the inertia of the drive roller, it is very difficult to instantaneously stop the drive roller, especially when it is rotating at a high speed. Therefore, the sheets of paper or the like are stopped at different positions depending upon the speed of rotation of the drive roller.

Accordingly, the primary object of. the present invention is to eliminate such defect as described above of the conventional paper feed device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, to stop the feed of sheets or the like, the follower rollers are moved away or spaced apart from the drive roller, opposed to the conventional device in which the drive roller is stopped. The sheets or the like are entered between the pair of rollers and advanced by the friction, but when the follower rollers are moved away from the drive roller, nofrictional force acts upon the sheet so that it is immediately stopped. The follower rollers and a braking means are operatively coupled to a control shaft which in turn is driven by a suitable drive means, so that as soon-as the follower rollers are moved away from the drive roller by'the control shaft which is activated in responseto a feed interruption or stop signal, the braking means holds the sheet being fed. When the follower rollers are moved toward the drive roller so as to press the sheet against the drive roller, the braking means is automatically released from the sheet.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the operation timing and retarding force of the braking means may be adjusted suitably.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the above-described adjustment may be effected by tightening or loosening the adjustment screws which are threaded into a baseplate having a compression spring interposed between the baseplate and the braking means.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the follower rollers may be angularly and adjustably positioned relative to the control shaft.

According to the present invention, the paper feed is not stopped by stopping the rotation of the drive roller, so that the inertia of the drive roller will not affect the operation of stopping the sheet or the like. Only the inertia of the sheet or the like which is very small affects the operation, so that the sheet or the like may be stopped substantially at a predetermined position regardless of the feed speed. Furthermore, the distance of moving of the follower rollers toward or away from the drive roller for feeding or stopping and the distance of travel and retarding force of the braking means for interrupting or stopping the feed of the sheets are very small so that the operation of stopping or restarting the paper feed may be made within a very short time.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of one illustrative embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 11 is a sectional side view of one embodiment of the present invention substantially taken along the line l-I of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawing, in opposed relation with a drive roller 1 which rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow are disposed follower rollers the shaft3 of which is fitted into elongated slots 6 formed through the side plates 5 depending from a mounting plate 4. The mounting plate 4 is securely fixed to a baseplate 8 which in turn is fitted over a control shaft 7. The shaft 30f the follower rollers2 is normally biased by means of a compression spring 10 so as to bear against the lower sides of the elongated slots 6. A braking member. 11 is movably carried by the control shaft 7 through depending side plates 12 ofthe braking member 11. The upper rear portion 13 of the braking memberll is supported in position by means of adjustment screws 14 which are screwed to the baseplate 8 and a compression spring interposed between the upper rear portion 1l3 andthe baseplate 8. It is seen therefore that when the position of the upper rear portion 13 is adjusted by tightening or loosening the adjustment screws 14, the position of the leading end or braking end of the braking-member 11 may be varied. A braking 'shoe 15 having a high coeflicient of friction is fitted over the leading end of the braking member 11. Reference numeral 16 designates a sheet of paper to be supplied; and 17, guide plates between which the sheet of paper 16 is advanced.

Next the mode of operationwill be described. The sheet of paper 16 is enteredbetween the normally rotating drive roller 1 and the follower rollers. ln thiscase, the braking shoe 15 of the braking member 11 is retracted outof the passage of the sheet 16 so that the sheet 16 may be advancedor fed by the rollers 1 and 2. When it: is desired to stop feeding, the control shaft 7 which is drivinglyand -electrically coupled to a paper feedcontrol unit not shown is rotated in the counterclockwise direction, so thatthe follower rollers 2 which are coupled to the control shaft 7 through the mounting plate 4 and the baseplate 8 are caused tomove upwardly and be spaced apart from the drive roller 1. This is illustrated in FIG. 1. Therefore, even through the drive roller 1 is normally rotated, there is almost no friction between the sheet 16 and the peripheral surface of the drive roller 1 so'that the sheet 16 is not advanced or fed, thereby stopping feeding of the sheets. In this case, it should be noted that the braking shoe 15 of the braking member 11 is movedinto the passage of the sheet at the instant thatthe control shaft 7 iscaused to rotate in the counterclockwise direction, so that the sheet 16 is pressed against the lower guide plate 17, thereby immediately retarding the sheet 16.

In the instant embodiment, the braking member Ill has been described as being adjusted in its position by means of the adjustment screws 14, but it will be understood that the angular position of the follower rollers 2 relative to the control shaft 7 and the angular position between the braking member 11 and the follower rollers 2 may be adjusted so that the operative distances of the braking member 11 andlor the follower rollers 2 may be suitably selected.

The device in accordance with the present invention may be utilized not only for controlling the feed of paper sheets as described above but also for stopping at a predetermined position a sensitized sheet or the like so that it may be correctly aligned with an object to be recorded thereon.

We claim:

I. A paper feed control system for use with automatic copying machines, printing presses or the like comprising a passage area through which the paper is advanced;

a drive roller positioned below said passage area with its upper peripheral area in contact with the bottom of the P p a follower roller drive shaft located above said passage area and having a mounting associated therewith;

follower roller drive means positioned on said mounting to rotate on said drive shaft;

a control shaft spaced from said drive shaft and located above said passage area;

plate means extending between said control shaft and said mounting in fixed relation thereto, and said plate means having a portion positioned adjacent the lower peripheral area of said control shaft, said plate means portion located between said control shaft and said drive shaft, and selected rotation of said control shaft rotates said plate means and thereby moves said follower roller drive means into and out of contact with the top of the paper;

braking means fixedly connected to said control shaft and having an end thereof adapted to contact and brake the advancement of the paper in correlation with the movement of said follower roller drive means out of contact with the paper, said braking means extending from one side of said control shaft, over said control shaft and extending on the other side of said control shaft, and said braking means having a portion spaced above said plate means portion; and

adjustment means connecting said portions and adjustable to vertically space said end of said braking means with respect to said plate means.

2. A paper feed control system according to claim 1, in which said plate means comprises a plurality of plate elements fixed together, at least two of said plate elements extending vertically, said mounting includes slots located within said vertical plates, said drive shaft is positioned within said slots, and biasing means is provided to maintain said drive shaft at the lower end of said slot. 7

3. A paper feed control system according to claim I, in which said follower roller drive means comprises a pair of spaced rollers, and the mounting is connected therebetween.

4. A paper feed control system according to claim I, in which said portions are flat areas, said adjustment means comprises a compression spring positioned between said flat areas, and an adjustment screw is located in contact with said braking means to vary the compression on said spring to determine the vertical positioning of the end of said braking means.

5. A paper feed control system according to claim 1, in which said passage area comprises spaced generally horizontal plates having openings therein for the drive roller and follower roller drive means to fit within to contact the paper, and the upper horizontal plate includes a further opening into which said end of the braking means passes to contact and brake the advancement of the paper.

l i I III 

1. A paper feed control system for use with Automatic copying machines, printing presses or the like comprising a passage area through which the paper is advanced; a drive roller positioned below said passage area with its upper peripheral area in contact with the bottom of the paper; a follower roller drive shaft located above said passage area and having a mounting associated therewith; follower roller drive means positioned on said mounting to rotate on said drive shaft; a control shaft spaced from said drive shaft and located above said passage area; plate means extending between said control shaft and said mounting in fixed relation thereto, and said plate means having a portion positioned adjacent the lower peripheral area of said control shaft, said plate means portion located between said control shaft and said drive shaft, and selected rotation of said control shaft rotates said plate means and thereby moves said follower roller drive means into and out of contact with the top of the paper; braking means fixedly connected to said control shaft and having an end thereof adapted to contact and brake the advancement of the paper in correlation with the movement of said follower roller drive means out of contact with the paper, said braking means extending from one side of said control shaft, over said control shaft and extending on the other side of said control shaft, and said braking means having a portion spaced above said plate means portion; and adjustment means connecting said portions and adjustable to vertically space said end of said braking means with respect to said plate means.
 2. A paper feed control system according to claim 1, in which said plate means comprises a plurality of plate elements fixed together, at least two of said plate elements extending vertically, said mounting includes slots located within said vertical plates, said drive shaft is positioned within said slots, and biasing means is provided to maintain said drive shaft at the lower end of said slot.
 3. A paper feed control system according to claim 1, in which said follower roller drive means comprises a pair of spaced rollers, and the mounting is connected therebetween.
 4. A paper feed control system according to claim 1, in which said portions are flat areas, said adjustment means comprises a compression spring positioned between said flat areas, and an adjustment screw is located in contact with said braking means to vary the compression on said spring to determine the vertical positioning of the end of said braking means.
 5. A paper feed control system according to claim 1, in which said passage area comprises spaced generally horizontal plates having openings therein for the drive roller and follower roller drive means to fit within to contact the paper, and the upper horizontal plate includes a further opening into which said end of the braking means passes to contact and brake the advancement of the paper. 